About

Given the preponderance of malady and tragedy that informs each successive whirlwind news cycle, I often hear the frustration in the question: “how do you decide where to spend most of your energy (or dollars, for that matter)?”

One of the reasons I write what I do on Dimensionally is not to rub open sores, but to let people know that, for sure, there are terrible things that happen in this world and that, in some cases, there are people who do terrible things. However, I hope people notice that I don’t leave it there. 

I try to leave a list of resources for engagement, donating (time or money), and something like a sense of hope that things are never as dark as either the media or ourselves would have us believe. I’m far more concerned with the stories we tell ourselves than I am about what the pundits say. Here’s why.

History is never static. We may see swings toward very dark periods; eras characterized by years, sometimes decades, of oppression. We also see those eras end. To be sure, what happens in one society’s history is not always synchronous with another’s; but that may be changing as nations are more than ever interlocked economically, environmentally, and as we’re seeing with a pandemic, pathogenically. 

No matter what the challenge, there is always something one can do. And yes, there are many, many right now to choose from. Which ones you choose to work on is wholly up to you; follow your heart because thinking intellectually about where you can do the most good is a losing proposition/rabbit hole to go down. Your heart and how you feel about something is more than likely a surer guide; moreover, you’ll have a deeper commitment to whatever it is or wherever you want to help out.

Over the years, Dimensionally Barrett has shifted and changed from a kind of self-promotional platform to what I hope is more informative in terms of what we encounter in the world. It’s reflective of my concerns, of course, but I try to present those concerns in the context of what affects more than just me. I hope that people read this and find something of merit.

I really do want to continue writing about current events wherever they arise and when I know a little bit, I’ll hopefully provide something like a decent historical context for how these events came to be (and what people are doing about them and how to get involved with solutions, should the situations call for them).

Yes, my main focus is on Central and South Asia, but I do pay attention to what’s in my own backyard, too. It is pretty obvious to me that what happens in one part of the world may not be so very far away.